“English” folk like you and me love to visit Mennonite and Amish businesses whether they be selling home bakes or produce. But few indeed get into the nursery and greenhouse market, and fewer yet succeed well enough to grow like Topsy. Elvin Burkholder is one that’s thriving. Elvin owns the Lakeside Greenhouse & Produce on […]
Continue reading about Ohio Mennonite Knows How to Make A Nursery Grow
As many Ohio readers know, there are farm markets and farm markets. The former are usually roadside affairs selling tomatoes, sweet corn, squash, and other good things from their garden. The latter, few indeed, are something special, offering unusual items as well as ordinary produce, items interesting enough to be worth a modest or even […]
Lots of Northcentral Ohio readers like to make an annual trip or two to Amish Country, but gas prices are high and these days a visit can be costly. How would you like to see some “Amish country” close to home, a little jewel of a market that is off the beaten track in untrammeled farm country, […]
Continue reading about Planktown Market Little Jewel: Amish and Mennonite Deli in Shiloh, Ohio
Back when I was a youngster in the heavily wooded hills of southern Ohio, there were only three animals to hunt when fall rolled around, squirrels, rabbits, and ruffed grouse, though we did bounce an occasional covey of bobwhite quail. So, the opening of squirrel season was an eagerly awaited affair, and we hunted them […]
It finally happened. You went from anticipation as that very first tomato turned gradually from yellow to red, then feasted happily on a half dozen that were either sliced and devoured, or placed in salads. Then tomatoes came on by the dozen, and you started serious canning, now they’re out there nearly in hundreds and […]
Is there a best season of the year to go muskie fishing? It’s an arguable point, but in my opinion the top time is right now. Why? Because muskies are cold blooded, which means their metabolism varies with water temperature. That water is hot right now, but cooling, so not only are muskies feeding heavily […]
Continue reading about Muskie Fishing Tactics for Ohio Lakes: Success at Clear Fork Reservoir
Right now is a good time for landowners and city folk alike. The weather is finally cooling, there’s been plenty of rain, and soybeans and corn are just beginning to yellow. It’s a small pocket of calm before fall crops come off, and you might be looking for a nice, but low key to visit, […]
Continue reading about Mansfield Ohio's Kingwood Center Gardens Great In Fall
September bird hunting in Ohio normally features an early teal season. (Ohio’s 2009 early teal season begins on September 5 and ends September 20 with a four bird limit.) Do you care? Probably not, because few waterfowlers indeed take advantage of this first opportunity to bag some ducks. Most don’t know where to find such early arrivals, and […]
Continue reading about How to Hunt Teal Without Decoys or Blinds: Ohio Waterfowl Early Season
It’s September now, and everything seems to be happening at once. Tomatoes are coming on strong, and I’ve already canned 16 quarts and 4 pints that will be used this fall and winter in everything from chili and spaghetti to vegetable soup and pasta. Peppers are ripening too, and so far I’ve sliced quite a […]
Continue reading about September Harvest Recipes for Fall Peppers and Corn
The 2009 squirrel season opened on September 1, and the year should be a good one. With a generous six squirrel limit, it should be no trick most days to fill a ticket with some fine eating, and they are indeed good eating. Back when I was a kid in the hills of southern Ohio, […]
Continue reading about Ohio Squirrel Hunting: Know Your Trees to Find Fox and Greys
Once upon a time when I was attending Ohio State University (OSU) at Stone Lab on South Bass Island, I took a few hours off and went smallmouth bass fishing along Peach Point at Put-In-Bay. I caught nothing. It’s a prime spot and I was curious, so I put on a face mask and snorkel I’d […]
Continue reading about Scuba Diving in Ohio Lakes: Fisherman Seeing the World Through Fish Eyes
How much does the average grain farmer make on his land per acre? $100? If he’s lucky. But apparently, it’s possible to make $1,000 on those acres, at least if they’re wet. Really wet! Bob Calala and his two brothers Lewis and David, have been doing extremely well on their liquid acres, and their annual […]
Continue reading about Shrimp Farming In Ohio Farm Ponds? Yes!
Usually, they’re called carp, but other names include bugle mouth, sewer bass, and some that can’t be printed here. They’re maligned as destroyers of game fish eggs, bottom rooters that murk clear water, fish with few enemies, but wonderful reproductive success, so much so that an accidental introduction in a farm pond can see that […]
Continue reading about Catch a Big Fighter: Carp Fishing Tips and Making Your Own Boilies
There are plenty of man-made lakes in Ohio, but very few natural ones, and most of those few are small, gouged out when the last glacier receded about 10,000 years ago. But there’s one large one, 90 acre Punderson Lake, a clear, sparkling body of water that’s deep and cold and offers some interesting activities […]
Continue reading about Punderson Lake, Ohio: Worth a Visit for Outdoor Sports and Family Fun
Every farm and rural dweller should have a dog, and many do. The bigger ones are often useful for controlling groundhogs, for letting owners know when visitors arrive, for keeping an eye on expensive equipment and farm machinery at night, and of course, as pets and animals well loved by family members. But picking the […]
Continue reading about Picking the Perfect (Almost) Farm Dog
The dog days of August and the first weeks of September are traditionally slow fishing times. Most years, with so many days of temperatures nearing 90 and water temperatures higher than usual, lockjaw among fish species is almost epidemic. But not among catfish. Channel cats and shovelheads LOVE hot water, and now is a peak time to […]
Continue reading about Dog Days of August Great for Catfishing in Ohio Lakes
I see some lovely flower beds and borders in my various travels around the area, but one recently stopped me literally. The flower bed lay behind a picturesque wood fence and traversed the whole front of the yard, leaving room only for a driveway. Instead of having an odds bodkin mixture of flowers, everything from […]
Continue reading about August Gardens: Border Ideas and Anticipating Fall Seed Catalogues
I fished my first farm pond at about age 8, and it must have been a good experience because since then I’ve visited literally hundreds. I like them because a well managed pond will have plenty of fish and being small, it can be covered thoroughly in a few hours. If there are bass there, […]
